Ilea
Earth goddess of Romanian origin relating to fertility and nature.
Name Census estimates that about 237 living Americans carry the first name Ilea. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ilea today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ilea births was 1980 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ilea. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
237
~ 1 in 1,446,221 Americans
Peak year
1980
24 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,090
Tracked since 1980
Census
Ilea in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 298 people with the first name Ilea, which placed it at #29,601 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#29,601
National first-name rank
People counted
298
298 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ilea
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ilea is White at 47.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.5%) and Black (15.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ilea described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ilea at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.7% · 142
- Hispanic or Latino23.5% · 70
- Black or African American15.8% · 47
- Two or more races10.7% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 2
Popularity
Ilea: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ilea from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 123 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ilea by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ilea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ileas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ilea
The name Ilea has its origins in ancient Greece, where it was derived from the Greek word "Ileia," which referred to the region of Elis in the Peloponnese peninsula. This region was renowned for hosting the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in honor of Zeus.
The earliest recorded mention of the name Ilea can be found in ancient Greek texts dating back to the 5th century BCE. One notable individual bearing this name was Ilea of Rhodes, a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 1st century BCE and wrote extensively on geometry and optics.
During the Roman era, the name Ilea was adopted and used by some Roman families, particularly those with Greek ancestry or connections. One famous bearer of this name was Ilea Sextia, a Roman noblewoman who lived in the 2nd century CE and was known for her patronage of the arts and literature.
In the Middle Ages, the name Ilea remained relatively obscure, but it did appear in some historical records from various parts of Europe. One notable figure was Ilea of Brabant, a 13th-century Flemish noblewoman who played a significant role in the political affairs of the Duchy of Brabant.
As the Renaissance period dawned, the name Ilea experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly among the intellectual and artistic circles of Italy. One celebrated individual with this name was Ilea Dei Libri, a 15th-century Venetian scholar and bibliophile who amassed one of the largest private libraries of her time.
In more recent history, the name Ilea has been carried by several notable figures. Ilea Kogan (1905-1989) was a prominent Soviet mathematician and academic who made significant contributions to the field of functional analysis. Ilea Feraco (1907-1998) was an Italian-American artist and painter known for her vibrant depictions of urban life in New York City.
While the name Ilea may not be as common today as it once was, it carries a rich historical legacy that spans centuries and cultures, from the ancient Greek world to the Renaissance and beyond. Its association with regions, individuals, and accomplishments in fields ranging from philosophy and mathematics to art and literature has cemented its place in the annals of human history.
People
Ilea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ilea as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ilea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ilea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 237 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ilea going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,446,221 US residents.
Is Ilea a common name?
We classify Ilea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 247 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ilea most popular?
The single biggest year for Ilea was 1980, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ilea is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ilea in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 298 people with the name Ilea, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,601 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ilea in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ilea?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ilea leans strongly female. 296 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ilea?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ilea is White at 47.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.5%) and Black (15.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ilea most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ilea in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.7% (142 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ilea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ilea a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ilea in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ilea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ilea in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ilea can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Ilea?
Want to know how many Americans are named Ilea? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.